Spirit of Dragons
by Synthetic Hawk
Summary: The war between the Light and Dark has been fought for centuries and countless warriors lie buried in its forgotten battlefields throughout Remnant. Now, Salem's plans to unite the relics and destroy the careful balance of power are being set in motion. The only chance Remnant has to retain the balance is with the Protectors. - Rated M for graphic and otherwise mature content.
1. Chapter 1

This story will contain a great deal of references underlining commentary about mental illness. As it stands, please be aware that if topics such as depression, suicide, and social disorders bother you in any way, do not read this story.

I'd also like to commit this story to those who live with mental illness, particularly depression, and hope that you can find a trickle of light in the occasions of humour and happiness depicted in this story as part of its mission to highlight how certain characters have learned to live with their difficulties, and how others have learned to understand or help.

Besides that, this story will be a romance between my OC and Yang Xiao Long. It will also be a general fantasy story revolving around Team ALBN (OC) and an alternative plot to protect Remnant against Salem.

 **Disclaimer:** Some characters, such as Mercury and Emerald, have been omitted for the time being until they have a relevant play in the new plot. Characters such as Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan have been re-imagined in their roles to better suit it.

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

The Vytal Tournament; this was all Yang Xiao Long and her teammates could think about. They had trained for weeks to prepare for the tournament and qualify to compete.

"You meet that team from Mistral with the monkey Faunus? Those boys were awesome eye-candy," Yang said, and then added, "Especially that monkey Faunus. What'd you say his name was, Blake?" as she prodded her teammate who couldn't hold back a blush.

"Sun Wukon, okay? I swear nothing happened," the raven-haired girl insisted. Blake had tried to live down when her teammates had found her and Sun leaning over the sofa. She claimed he'd tripped and fell on her, but Yang made a point to note that Blake would have more than likely been able to evade him in that scenario.

"Would you two stop arguing over this?! We have better things to worry about," Weiss declared, but Yang gave her a smug glare.

"That's a dangerous position to take when you talk in your sleep, Weiss," the blonde said and laughed as she mimicked what everyone else assumed was Weiss, "Oh Neptune, you're so brave!"

Weiss stood there like a statue and was about to retaliate when the loudspeakers came on. "Attention students, would all competitors please report to the staging auditorium, the rest may take your seats at the stadium," came Professor Port's voice.

It didn't take long for Team RWBY to reach the yard where the shuttles were taking spectators and participants up to the stadium. It was on one shuttle that they found Team JNPR and Team CFVY. Ruby noticed Velvet and Coco staring at a young man standing next to the railing of the airship. He was looking out into the city.

His armor was a long brown cloak reaching down to his ankles and wrapping around his body, with overlapping armor on his torso, arms and legs of what appeared to be tiny scales made of bone. Yang was about to ask why everyone was staring at him, as by now most of the people around were, until she saw through the sun glare the very reason.

On his head were a pair of very large horns of a light-brown colour. As he turned slightly to glance at the looming eyes on him, for just a moment the girls thought they saw a pair of amber coloured, glowing reptilian eyes.

"I'm drawing a blank with that one, Velve," Coco said as the man turned back to the view.

"That's Laghairt Sol. Don't ask what kind of Faunus he is, nobody really knows," Blake explained. Many of the onlookers turned to her, hoping to learn more.

A few of the girls in the crowd began to ask softly about details that Blake thought were irrelevant.

As the questions continued to roll in, Blake snapped out, "I don't know anything much about him guys! He's frequented Menagerie and he's a mercenary."

The small crowd dispersed and to the girls' shock, they saw Ruby approach the Faunus. "Hey," she called to him as she leaned against the railing.

At first, his stare and expression didn't change, but after a few moments his eyes fell on her, but his expression was still neutral, "Yes?"

Ruby smiled and pointed to her friends, all of whom shook their heads or just stood there like a deer in headlights.

"My friend Blake said she recognized you. We were wondering if you might want to hang out with us before the event. We're always excited to meet new people," Ruby explained and hope began to bloom in her mind as she saw him smirk. He glanced over to her friends in the small foyer.

When his eyes met with Blake, she looked away and then he returned his attention to Ruby, "I'm afraid my team and I keep to ourselves. I wish you luck in the tournament," he replied, and then Ruby heard footsteps behind her.

She turned to see a girl with long auburn hair and wearing a turquoise dress which stopped at the knee. The corset was a dark moss-green colour and so were her knee-high boots and bracers. A hawk of the same colour as her hair was perched on her arm, its wings, belly and crown were brown.

Ruby could see that the girl's hair curled at the ends and she had two polished long daggers on her waist.

"Is this little thing bothering you, Laghairt?" she said as her hawk stared at Ruby and cried.

"No, Artemis. She was just meeting and greeting," Laghairt replied. Behind him came the pink and brown haired Neopolitaine and his last teammate who was an elk Faunus whose extremely long brown hair and large antlers drew the attention of many around. She didn't seem to mind however, as she had a blank and seemingly sedated look to her as Neo brought her over.

Ruby became uncomfortable as Banshee seems to slowly look at her, "Well, I'll see you in the arena. Be sure to stop by some time," she said as she waved and left.

When Ruby returned to her team's side, everyone from the three teams of friends gave her mixed looks, Blake in particular looked as if she was scared to hear what happened.

"So? He a stud or a jackass?" Coco asked when nobody spoke.

Ruby shrugged, "He didn't want to talk much. I do know those other three are his teammates though. Artemis and uh…" she stopped as she realized she'd never caught their names.

"Neopolitaine is the heterochromatic girl with pink hair and the elk Faunus is called Banshee Mirage. She's the one I'm concerned about," Blake said.

"Well, there's an opening ceremony in an hour. We can meet people later, we should get to our assigned area," Weiss said and everyone nodded as the ship came to dock at the stadium ring.

Blake walked behind her team when she felt a hand on her arm. She quickly looked to see nothing there, but glanced over to see Banshee standing a few yards away staring at her. Her eyes wide and her expression blank.

Blake could hear a loud ringing in her ears and then felt wetness under her nose. She looked at her hand that she used to wipe it to realize that it was a trickle of blood. Meanwhile Banshee continued to stare at her until Blake closed her eyes and it stopped. When she opened them again the girl was gone.

She heard Yang call her and rushed over to catch up to her team, trying desperately to ward off the headache and dizziness surging through her.

* * *

The first few matches of the Vytal Tournament were fast and merciless, with several of the best Huntsmen teams in Remnant's academies setting the stage for the primaries. This included Team CFVY, who shot through their first match of the tournament by a four-strike aura drain.

Team JNPR was also a popular team with Pyrrha taking the spotlight. Even with Jaune directing his team flawlessly through the first match, it was Pyrrha who eyes were on. She along with Coco and Yang from their respective teams were fan favourites.

There was however a rising star as Team ALBN, led by Artemis Morrigan, took their place in a match against a team from Atlas.

Weiss was rooting for her home team, but she still took a great deal of interest in Team ALBN, and so did the Yang and Ruby; so logically they turned to Blake.

"So, what exactly do you know about them besides that they are mercenaries? If that's the case how are they participating in this tournament?" Weiss asked her

Blake simply shrugged, "Seriously guys, I have no clue. Their leader Artemis Morrigan is a third-year student at Haven Academy and is from a nomadic tribe in Anima. Neopolitan is from Vale and Laghairt is a sell sword whose had his dealings with the White Fang. I have no idea where Banshee comes from, I just know she's dangerous," she replied.

Pyrrha was hard at work on her scroll pulling up the tournament profile on Team ALBN, "It says they are representing Haven. Apparently, Banshee Mirage is a redacted profile. Everything on her record is blocked. So is Laghairt Sol's profile."

"Fight's starting!" they heard Nora shout in the row behind them. One half of the arena turned into a forest, the other half into a glacier. One of the Atlas fighters smirked as his body began to fade into flakes of snow and disperse along the ground of the glacier zone.

Artemis and Laghairt rushed the other three while Neo took Banshee by the hand and led her toward the middle of the arena where she prompted her to sit. When Banshee sat with her legs crossed, Neo simply paced around her, deflecting the occasional gunfire with her umbrella.

Curious eyes seemed confused at this move, but many relented as they saw Artemis and Laghairt dispatch one of their opponents.

Moments later, the student who'd disappeared reappeared behind Laghairt, but was grabbed by the neck by the horned faunus. In shock, he accidently fired a shot clean at Artemis and the monitor showed it took a chunk out of her aura.

When Laghairt tried to retaliate, the boy disappeared again. He opted to engage one of the two girls attacking Artemis. It wasn't long before those two were out of the fight, one of them had been harassed by Artemis' hawk and ran straight into a geyser.

Laghairt and Artemis were struck with a gust of snow and then Laghairt swiftly blocked a shot to his shoulder with his armored glove. "He's a pesky one," the faunus said.

Artemis took her daggers; Terra Arbre and linked them together into their bow form. She focused, following what seemed to be a guiding hand, and fired an arrow.

It travelled over several hills of snow until it exploded in midair and a rag-dolling Atlesian appeared out of the gust of snow and was sent into the boundary.

"Knockout! Team ALBN wins!" Professor Port's voice boomed across the stadium.

"That was awesome!" Nora cried out.

"How did she see him?" Velvet asked from a few seats down.

"Meh," Yang replied and then noogied her sister.

Ruby whined, "Why?!"

* * *

After a few additional matches, the Doubles Round began. Team CFVY's Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina took the stage as Team JNPR's Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc walked in opposite from them.

Coco grinned and tilted her shades down, "You're mine, cute-stuff," she said as she gave Jaune a wink.

Jaune was taken aback by that comment, and then the buzzer rang and Coco opened her briefcase and let off a folly of bullets his way. He managed to block them with his shield and retreated behind a cluster of rocks. He watched as Velvet engaged Pyrrha with an array of weapons, some of which he recognized. Members of the audience, including Team RWBY who some of the weapons belonged to, stared in awe. This was the first time Velvet had ever revealed her semblance and her weapon outside of her team and her teachers.

Jaune was unfortunately distracted enough to not notice Coco come up behind him, but he did when she patted him in the shoulder.

"Hey, hot stuff," she said to him and he turned around, and then she gave him a hard (but not too hard) kick to the nads.

"Why?!" he said as he dropped to his knees and his aura dropped as fast as he did.

"Couldn't decide if you look better on your knees," she said before bunny-punching him in the face and knocking him out cold, "And you kind of do."

She proceeded to take her vaping pen out and smoke. That was when she received a shield in the face which smacked her with a firm thud. It was the crack which made the whole arena go silent as Pyrrha pulled her shield back to her.

Coco stared at her with an unamused look as she exhaled the vapor she'd inhaled from her pen and her eyes seemed to stare daggers into Pyrrha's soul.

Pyrrha knew this because one of the lenses of Coco's shades was gone, broken off by her attack.

"Okay," was all Coco said in a tone which Pyrrha could hear was suppressed anger.

The next thing she knew she had a surge of bullets flying at her, "Oh crap!" she exclaimed as she ducked behind rocks which Coco slowly pulverized with her minigun. When Coco stopped, Pyrrha wasted no time engaging her in melee, but regretted it when the girl ducked from her parry and struck her behind the knee with her handbag.

Pyrrha managed to steady herself and returned a swipe to Coco's front, and began striking quick swings and parries at her. After only a few strikes Coco couldn't keep up and Pyrrha barraged her aura with strike after strike until Coco was red-barred.

As the match was called, Pyrrha reached over and helped Coco up.

"Damn it, Pyres. That's the second pair you broke. If you win the tournament, you're taking me to that new designer store in the city to celebrate," and they walked off not noticing Jaune's soft pleas for help. Velvet limped over and slumped next to him. She still had a kink in her armor where Pyrrha had given her a good whack.

"You're balls okay?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

A few hours later, Team RWBY took its turn in the 2v2 against Team SSSN, which in less than a minute Sun took Weiss out of the fight with help from Neptune. To say the least, a bit of clever psychological warfare on Sun's part was involved getting Neptune to engage Weiss head on, which prompted her to lose her sense. Fortunately, Neptune was there to catch her as she tripped on her own glyph and then shock her with his trident.

Blake quickly dealt with him with a quick disarm and then several strikes to the face. Nobody was sure if it was the physical trauma that took him out, or the fact he passed out from just the thought she might have bruised his face. This left her and Sun to fight.

"Hey," Sun said with a wink and gave her a peace sign.

Blake grunted and then whipped Gambol Shroud's cord at him, pulling him toward her so she could kick him. He summoned his clones to distract her while he summersaulted to a small ruin overlooking a pond.

He saw Blake jump after him after dispatching his clones and then dodged attack after attack. It seemed Blake wouldn't hit him until she stopped entirely, which surprised Sun and he looked over, only to regret dropping his guard as she yanked him by the collar and kissed him. Completely taken over by shock, he wasn't prepared for her swift motion as her leg pushed his from under him and he was sent tumbling into the water below. Blake laughed as she heard him hit the water.

"Blake! Help!" she heard Sun call. She leaned over the edge of the stone wall to see Sun struggling to keep his head above water.

"Monkeys don't swim so well! Don't suppose I can have a hand?"

Blake threw Gambol Shroud at him and then swiftly yanked him up, but to his horror let him keep going up and up until he hit the barrier.

"Ow…" and he fell into a bush below.

"Team RWBY wins! What an excellent show, ladies!" Oobleck praised.

Blake gave Sun her hand to help him up, "Strange how Neptune's the one afraid of water and yet you're the one who can't swim."

"I got other skills," and then he kissed her.

All over the stadium the cat-calls ran wild, but the best was saved for the loudest, "It would seem we have some young love in the air, doctor," Port commented.

"Indeed! Nothing like a sporty spar to get those pent-up hormones raging!" Oobleck said, and then added, "Unfortunately the arena needs to be prepared for the next team. Clear the field!"

A chorus of boos rang through the crowd as students expressed their displeasure at losing the bonus show.

Team ALBN's Laghairt Sol and Neopolitan took to the ring against Team ABRN's Arslan and Reese.

The fight was short as Laghairt threw several fireballs at Arslan, forcing her into the defensive, before he exchanged punches with her and finally managed a shot to the abdomen which staggered her. In moments her aura was depleted by several swift bursts of fire.

Neo took her time fighting Reese, enjoying dodging and rolling around the girl's board maneuvers. Finally, Reese made the mistake of throwing her board at Neo, which Neo caught and vanished with.

"What the..?" and then Reese realized what had happened. Neo had taunted her into foolishly giving up her weapon and that was when Laghairt came in and knocked her against the barrier.

* * *

The teams were given the next day to recuperate for the last stretch of the tournament as the Singles rounds came.

Pyrrha sparred against the leader of a Shade Academy team and Coco sparred against the notorious ringer Penny. Yang fought Nebula and Laghairt fought a third-year student from Haven Academy. Another ice-based weapon. Laghairt was not amused by his luck.

The Singles Semi-Finale was a rush of Yang throwing Coco almost through the barrier, and Laghairt was finally forced to reveal his sword for the first time to fight Pyrrha. People began talking as the activation of Laghairt's long sword, Sapphire, made his eyes turn deep blue. He exchanged powerful attacks against Pyrrha, trying not to hurt her badly but break her defenses. It was at this time he realized how she was redirecting his attacks, and he backed off.

It took him a moment to redirect his power and form a very sharp electrical arc, which sent a surge through Pyrrha and her aura depleted as her semblance was forcefully activated by the resulting pulse of electromagnetic energy, which Laghairt purposefully kept at a low level to prevent not only exposing her to deadly radiation, but also from shutting down every electric system in the stadium, including the very barrier designed to protect the spectators.

Laghairt looked up at the dark sky as he felt his aura start to drain at his exerting attack. Luckily, he'd barely made a dent, but he nodded his head to her in respect as he left. She'd made him exert himself, and that was fun enough for him.

The crowds cheered the next morning as the Singles Finale was called. Yang was pitted against Laghairt in the showdown for the Vytal Champion title. Ruby hugged her sister and Blake gave her a high-five before the blond waltzed on to the stage opposite of Laghairt, who waved quickly over to his teammates.

"Hey," Yang called over, reaching out her hand to him, "Let's have a clean one for the crowd. Let's give them a show to remember."

Laghairt seemed taken aback and reluctant to approach. He gave her a nervous grin. "I hope we can, Miss Long."

"Awe, now where's the tough, mysterious guy we saw on the ship?" she said giving him a coy smile. Laghairt seems to get even more anxious. It took a moment for Yang to guess why and she had her fun with it. He was handsome enough. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and played with it while they waited the last few moments for the stage to lift.

"Begin!" came the call. The two jumped away from each other and Yang was the first one to throw shots. Laghairt swiftly moved to evade them and came in close to melee. Yang threw her punches at him, forcing him to use Sapphire and before long the two were in a stalemate of fiery onslaughts.

The match went on for almost ten minutes before Yang grew frustrated enough to throw the full force of her semblance at him. In an astonishing and crowd-silencing move, Laghairt took the entire hit with his hand, deftly standing like a statue. His arm didn't even give way as their hands connected.

The stadium was silent as the world saw Yang Xiao Long's Dragon Wrath which she'd made notorious throughout the tournament, get blocked almost effortlessly by Laghairt. The problem was it hadn't been effortless and it was not Laghairt who'd done it. As both of them fell to their knees in exhaustion, Port and Oobleck starred at one another. The crowds began to mutter amongst themselves.

Had the Vytal Tournament seen its first draw? Laghairt turned his head to see what he'd suspected; Banshee was standing from her seat. She'd used her semblance to block Yang's strike against her friend, it was only because of Artemis covering the girl's mouth that she hadn't screamed, which would have caused even more problems.

Before Port could make the call, Laghairt stood and made it himself.

"I'm afraid one of my teammates interfered in the match. I must therefore forfeit and leave Yang Xiao Long as the winner," he stated and then reached a hand over to help her up, "But I do hope you'll honor me with a future spar. I cannot lie that this fight has left me humbled," he said to her. She grabbed his hand and yanked him down, then he could hear her strained giggle as he grunted.

"Ladies and gentlemen. It would appear Mr. Sol has surrendered the match to Ms. Xiao Long, making her this year's Vytal Champion. Congratulations to all our teams and a special congratulation to Yang Xiao Long of Beacon Academy," came Port's voice.

The stadium was an uproar of cheers as Laghairt helped Yang stand. In a humble house in Patch, Taiyang Long tried to hide back his tears of joy as his daughter stood there, while exhausted, a triumphant winner of the tournament. He had to sock one of his friends when they handed him a tissue.

What nobody did see was the raven swoop above and rest on a railing, staring intently at Yang and Laghairt. It sat there for several moments before taking flight again.

* * *

The Beacon Academy dorm house lobby was a zoo of cheers for Yang, who held up her trophy for several journalists and photographers before joining her friends, including those from team JNPR and CFVY. Coco was a tad bit sour about not being able to claim her bet from Pyrrha, but was more than happy enough to see Yang holding the trophy in Beacon's name. This was actually a custom, as the champion didn't in fact get to keep the ceremonial trophy itself; that stayed with the school. However, Yang received a unique medallion which was marked for that year's event.

Her and a few others asked why this year's medallion had a green gemstone in it, but nobody had a straight answer for that. It'd simply been at the request of the academy staff. It was a dragon-eye shaped stone, meaning it was shaped as a three-dimensional equilateral triangle.

"Hot-stuff's still got his nuts in a bunch," Coco said gesturing to Jaune, who even after two days still had to wear loose pants.

A few of the girls laughed at Jaune's expense, but he knew that he deserved it. To train so hard only to be taken out by Coco in such a manner was rather funny.

"I treated it, not to worry!" Pyrrha insisted with a smile.

Jaune let his head smack the table with a loud thud as every eye in the room turned to him and Pyrrha. Several, such as Weiss and Sun, just about spat out their drinks or otherwise choked on them momentarily at what Pyrrha had just implied.

Coco let her shades fall to the tip of her nose and took a shot from her vape pen, "Smooth.."

"I bet it was!" Scarlet said and then fell into a fit of snickering as his face went red and he started tearing up. Sun gave him a firm smack behind the head. Weiss crossed her arms as Yang and various others were laughing.

"The maturity in this room is astounding," Weiss commented.

"I don't understand…" Pyrrha finally said, "I lubricated it to help it heal," which in turn resulted in half the room going absolutely insane with laughter.

"I just can't! Oh, Monty I really can't!" Fox said between fits of laughter. Coco sat at the small bar, took her shades off and tried desperately to vape as she slumped down, out of breath from laughing and yet unable to stop.

Ren facepalmed as he said, "Pyrrha, you really have to think these things out before you say them."

Pyrrha fell into a gloom of confusion as everyone tried to regain control. Blake and Ren were sitting in the back of the room with Weiss, who'd given up even trying to seek any level of maturity from their friends. All the laughter stopped when they heard the foyer doors open and Team ALBN walked in.

Yang walked over to greet them as Laghairt stepped forward ahead of his team leader.

"I wanted to congratulate you formally for your victory, Miss Long," said a soft-spoken Laghairt.

Artemis smirked, "What he means to say is he has finally learned to swallow his ego."

"I hate you, Arta," he said as he shut his eyes. ALBN's leader smiled behind him and nudged her hawk to jump on to his head, grasping both his horns like a bull-wrangler. He tried to shake the pest off when he noticed Yang and a few others laughing.

"Would you like to party with us? Least we can do for the second best," Yang said with a coy smirk. Laghairt gently pushed a curious Velvet away from him as she tried to take a picture of his sword and the hawk on his head, "I'd be honoured, but no photography," he stated. He swiped the hawk off his head and then took a seat beside Coco to try a hit of Vaccuo Hot Cider, "And no questions about my horns," he added as he sensed a presence behind him.

"Damn!" came the small voice of Ruby.

* * *

Author's Note

* * *

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave comments or questions if you wish and I'll be sure to read them at my earliest convenience. I know questions about Team ALBN's semblances, weapons, and background will be asked, so please be patient as the first few chapters take seed, as they will set these details up.


	2. Chapter 2

It has been a while since this story hit and I had planned to release the second chapter much sooner, but things became complicated and my focus on the story was lost for a while. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

It was late and Team JNPR had already gone to their dorm room, unfortunately Coco, Fox and Scarlet were beyond help and so their Teams had simply stayed until their friends were sober.

In the meantime, Velvet and Ruby couldn't resist asking questions about Team ALBN's weapons.

"Mine is called Terra Arbre, its two short swords, or long daggers if you prefer, which I can combine into a bow. I use crystalized dust for ammo, generally I prefer Earth dust since I can use my Semblance to extract it from the soil," and this prompted Ruby to jump up.

"Wow! So, you can control earth?"

Artemis chuckled, "No, not quite like that. I control the composition of things, like soil minerals," and the girls watched as a log of charcoal in the fireplace turned to a very small diamond which rolled out of the ambers and across the floor, then exploding into a pile of coal powder.

Ren immediately ran to grab a broom while the others looked at the spectacle with awe, except Weiss. Diamonds didn't really impress her much. It only reminded her of home.

"Wow!" Ruby exclaimed, "What about your hawk?"

Artemis looked at Alane and petted her, "She's been with me since I was small. She sheltered in our home several times during the storm season and must have grown attached when we fed her. My parents cleverly insisted I train her to hunt and since then we have been companions."

The conversation was broken by Ruby breaking out into laughter, then being joined by Scarlet and Fox.

In the corner was Neo dancing around a pole using her semblance to mimic Weiss' clothes and hair.

The heiress girl simply stared wide-eyed as Scarlet began throwing bits of paper at Neo, pretending they were lien.

"Yeah! Grind it!"

Weiss growled and stormed off, "Absolute children!"

Laghairt took a sip from his drink as he grinned at the display, but then his expression dropped as Coco crawled under his arm, still intoxicated, and began pinching his face, "You're cute," she said.

Laghairt looked around at the others and then back to Coco, "Please stop, I'd rather you didn't do anything inappropriate," he said nervously. When she tried to kiss him, he got up and walked a few feet away.

Coco slumped down and grunted, "Your loss then…" and then she slowly drifted to sleep.

"So, what does your friend do?" Yang asked, pointing to Banshee, who miraculously had stayed perfectly in place staring at the glass of gin all night.

Artemis and Laghairt looked at each other hoping the other would take the lead on the conversation.

"Banshee was an orphan, as best we can tell as there was little information on her, that was being transported to the Atlas Psychiatric Hospital from Vaccuo," explained Laghairt, "We found her when we saw her ship crash."

"What happened?" Ruby asked with a solemn face.

"When we arrived, the White Fang was already fleeing the scene. We figured they'd swiped whatever they were after and we wanted to find any survivors before giving chase," he paused and then spoke in a low voice, "What we found in there couldn't even be described as recognizably human anymore. I found one Atlas medic who was half embedded in the hull and another whose body seemed to have melted. Those that were reasonably intact had blood coming out of everywhere, including their eyes and ears."

"She," Yang paused for a moment to look at Banshee who was approaching them, apparently free of her long trance, "Did that?"

As eyes curiously looked to Banshee, it was not long before Velvet noticed Banshee was floating off the ground, and then as she pointed this out, the girl began floating up to the ceiling. By this point she was still and quiet as a corpse, staring into space. She bounced off the ceiling like a stiff statue.

"Banshee suffers from Schizophrenia, a very severe case of it," Artemis explained.

Laghairt continued, "Still in a frenzy, she attacked us and almost killed Artemis. She only stopped when she connected to me."

"Connected to you?" Blake questioned.

"I hear the voices, the thoughts, the memories," they heard the eerie voice of the young Faunus above them. She was still floating aimless, but her eyes were trained on them. They were like porcelain orbs and her pupils seemed like an endless abyss.

"So, what she did," Yang started.

"Was her semblance," explained Laghairt, "Banshee is a telepath. She can manipulate things around her and connect with people's minds. It's the reason she doesn't have a weapon. To even consider the idea when she has such power seems redundant."

"That sounds seriously dangerous. Can she even control that with her condition?" Weiss said in urgency, having overheard their conversation as she returned. Laghairt shook his head slowly, "Not as much as we'd like," he replied, but Blake wasn't listening.

"That's how you could track people on the battlefield or predict their movements during the tournament, wasn't it? Banshee can tell you where your enemies are," she inquired.

Artemis chuckled and looked to Laghairt, "The girl is smart," and then turned to the cat Faunus, "That's right. Banshee has acquired a latent connection to us. Through trust and discipline, we have learned to interpret her messages, and through us she acquires a sense of control over her disposition. While Laghairt is right, she has far less control over herself and her power than we'd like; before us she was a rampant mess prone to outbursts of rage or despair," Artemis told them solemnly.

"What about you?" asked an intrigued Ruby to Laghairt.

Laghairt hesitated to answer, "I'd rather not say. I insist it is better that way. I've learned to only use it in my most dire need, and dire need I haven't had often. I'd cause more fear in those I try to protect than peace of mind," he grunted.

"More so than the floating wonder?" Sun asked, coming back from the fridge with his orange juice and nudged Neptune awake as he sat.

"Yes," was all Laghairt said.

* * *

It was almost an hour later that everyone took their leave, although Coco had tripped on Laghairt's tail, which had left her with a bruised chin. He had no doubt they'd be hearing about that when she was rested and sober.

In Team RWBY's dorm room, the girls were readying for bed when Weiss took the opportunity to voice a concern she'd had since hearing about Banshee.

"You don't actually believe that stuff about their teammate Banshee, do you?"

"I hate to say it, Weiss," Yang started, "But when I made that finishing move in the fight, I felt that force. It was like my hand was stopped in time. There was no sensation of hitting something, it was just like my hand couldn't move."

"And when we were on the airship, I could hear screaming in my head. I was bleeding. It was like I was going to pass out," added Blake.

Ruby looked at Weiss with a concerned frown.

"Atlas would never let a patient like that go free," Weiss stated flatly.

Blake looked up from her book, "That's assuming they had any idea she survived the crash. Laghairt even told me they covered their tracks."

"Did he tell you anything else?" asked Weiss.

Blake huffed, "No, but I happen to know that the file for their team could only have been redacted by officials. Someone at Beacon or the Vale government wants them here."

None of her teammates added to the debate, and so Team RWBY retired for the night. Yang was the last to fall asleep, staring at her medallion. It was a beautifully decorated golden coin. She rubbed the emerald at its centre before putting it down on the nightstand and climbing into bed.

Yang's night was invaded by a peculiar dream;

* * *

"I am ashamed, your majesty. I am ashamed to tell you that I have failed. I returned to the temple to find it in shambles. I tried to save her, but it was too late. I was too late!" said a figure in armor and draped with a black cape. He was kneeled before a crowned man standing in front of a throne decorated with the old sigils of Vale.

The King of Vale approached the man, "So my only daughter is dead? Did you find those that did this? Is the relic safe? Please tell me my daughter did not die for nothing!" he said with tears in his eyes.

The caped man shook his head, he tried to find his words, "I don't know where the relic is, but the ones who did this were accompanied by Mistral soldiers."

The king looked away, "I fear this will escalate. If war is unavoidable, then where I need you is in Vaccuo. You are to find your counterpart and protect the Maiden of Summer and the Relic of Destruction, am I understood?"

"But sire!" but the man was cut off as the King yelled,

"My daughter is dead, her power and the Relic of Choice may possibly already be in the hands of the Witch. Under no circumstances can I allow the other maidens and their relics to fall into enemy hands. Warn your brethren and tell them that no matter what, the relics must remain safe, even if they have to take them far from the kingdoms."

The man bowed his head lower, "I swear it," and that was when Yang caught the silhouette of the man's horns.

* * *

Yang shot awake as she was shaken in her bed.

"Yang!" she heard Blake's hushed voice.

Yang could see Blake holding up the medallion, the emerald at its centre slowly fading from a glow.

Blake had clearly only just woken up, "This was glowing in my face. With my eyes its like looking at a high-watt lightbulb, Yang."

"I had a screwed-up dream," explained Yang.

"Yeah, well keep this in your bed. Maybe it'll give you good luck," and as Blake disappeared in her bed below, she added, "It'll definitely stop waking me up at this awful hour."

The following day started as the girls expected; relaxation after a competition. The dream didn't reoccur, but Yang was still curious about the emerald in her medallion. As Blake had mentioned, it was glowing during her incident with the dream. There was no doubt in her mind that something was amiss.

Thinking to the ending of the dream, she decided to pay her new friend and tournament rival a visit. It took her almost an hour of questioning various people to find Artemis, who was watching quietly as Velvet took pictures of her bird. Yang could have sworn the bird was posing for the camera.

"I'm looking for Laghairt," Yang said in a tone that sounded more demanding than she intended. Artemis smirked, "Seems next to you guys, we are quite popular. He's fighting off a bunch of girls in the garden space just over there," she said, pointing to the yard outside the dining hall.

When Yang arrived there, however; the girls were already leaving. A few of them had some less than appealing things to say on Laghairt's expense. He definitely wasn't the charmer they expected, she supposed.

His irritated expression as she approached hinted to the fact she'd chosen a bad time. Still, she wanted to settle her mind.

"The first thing you say better not be for my autograph or permission to touch my horns," he said between clenched teeth.

Yang's brows lowered and she crossed her arms, "Actually, I was hoping you'd tell me more about yourself. What kind of Faunus are you? Where did you come from?"

Laghairt didn't answer for a moment as he stared at her, his expression reflecting his puzzled state of mind. Was he hiding something, she wondered.

"My people were once known as Protectors and came from a cluster of settlements in Northern Vaccuo. We guarded the world much like you Huntsmen do now," he answered.

She smiled at him, leaning on the edge of a stone masonry, "Doctor Oobleck never talked about a Faunus tribe by that name. That still doesn't answer what kind of Faunus you are."

"I am uncomfortable with this line of questioning, Miss Long."

"Yang," she retorted.

Laghairt frowned for a moment before shaking his head and smirking. This prompted Yang to growl, "So suddenly you're a barrel of fun again?"

"Your name means 'sun" and your family name means 'dragon'. Did you know that?"

"Dad reminds me often enough. What's so special about that?" Yang asked giving him a smug look.

Laghairt frowned, "I have a special relationship with both dragons and the Sun, you could say."

Yang grinned and pointed at his horns, "I knew it! You're a lizard faunus. Like a comodo dragon or something. Let me guess, you can camouflage your skin or some junk."

"That's a chameleon. That's not what I am."

"Okay, fine. You're an iguana!"

"My tongue is not the length of my arm and I am perfectly capable of smelling with my nose," then Laghairt honed in on her impatience, "Why does this interest you so much, Yang? This seems more than idle curiosity."

"Promise you won't think it's weird," she said.

"Hard to promise to not have a feeling about something I have not yet received," he retorted with a twitch of his brow.

"I had a dream and I saw a person who had horns like yours."

Laghairt chuckled, "Had me on your mind, it sounds. I seem to have become popular with ladies around here. I can't honestly think you'd be immune. Besides, if anything you have the most reason to have attraction to me. I can't imagine too many people have ever come as close to beating you in a fight as me."

"Dad can."

Laghairt's eyes narrowed in a condescending show of disappointment, "Are you trying to counter my argument by comparing me to your dad? If you have a good relationship with him, that could give an impression you may not want," and he leaned forward, "Are you Daddy's little girl?"

Yang let Laghairt have it straight in the nose with a quick bunny punch, "Watch it!" she growled. He grunted in response before she continued, "I had a dream about a knight, maybe even a huntsman, talking to a man who looked like the king of Vale from the history books. That's all. It wasn't a wet dream."

Laghairt's eyes morphed into a reptilian shape that reminded her of crocodile eyes, "You saw him talking to the king of Vale? What about?"

"Something about his daughter dying. They kept calling her the Maiden of Fall," stunned by his sudden change in demeanour and the unexpected changing of his eyes. Faunus weren't known for that trait.

"The Fall Maiden; and that's an amazingly prophetic dream for events that occurred half a century before your birth," and he outstretched his hand, his eyes fixed on her, the pupils shrinking as she backed away a few steps, "Where's the artifact?"

"What artifact?"

"The one that activated in your sleep and gave you that dream. No doubt it was something you acquired recently. A celebratory trinket? The medallion they gave you for winning the tournament, maybe?"

Yang hesitated a moment before speaking, "It's the medallion. The emerald was glowing. Why do you want it?"

Laghairt frowned, "I know how to use it. It's common knowledge with my people. My people created artifacts like that to preserve memories and help teach their descendants."

"Your people?" she asked quizzically, "As in Faunus?"

"I think I've answered enough questions for now, Yang. I need you to give me that medallion before your enemies find out you have it. They'll kill you for it."

"What enemies? What the Hell are you talking about?"

Laghairt grunted and drew a dagger from his belt. Anticipating an attack, Yang braced herself and was ready to pound him down, but instead of attacking he made a small cut on his hand and let the droplets of blood collect in a small vial.

"Take this and pour it on the emerald before you go to sleep," he said, sealing the vial.

"That's morbid."

"You wanted to know more about me and in all honesty, you won't believe me when I tell you the truth, not only about me but about what your dear Professor Ozpin is hiding from all of you," and he watched her frown.

Without another word he left her to consider his offer.

Despite Yang's formally stubborn sense of practicality, she relented and gave Laghairt's plan a try that night. She could tell something was happening the moment the blood touched the gem, it began to sink in, as if the gem was devouring it. It didn't seem possible, but there it was, like magic the blood absorbed into the solid gem and she could see the dark cloud of blood floating in there.

* * *

The first thing she saw was the sea of trees, then the path curling through the forest, and finally the large village of people. All of them had the same horned heads as Laghairt, variations of horns and scaled extremities, but recognisably the same race. It definitely didn't seem like any Faunus group she was aware of.

"Laghairt! Come here!" she heard a man shout. As she looked in his direction, she could see the man was elderly, but still physically fit. His horns were massive.

She saw a young man run over to him. There was no mistaking it was Laghairt.

"Yes sir?"

"I want to show you something. You remember when I promised you I'd bring you to the temple when you were old enough? I feel now's the best opportunity."

Laghairt nodded.

The older man beckoned him and they traversed the path away from village. Yang recognized the western reaches of the Emerald Forest now, distinct thanks to the clear view of Vaccuo's mountain chain that lined its border with Vale.

As they entered a shrine, Yang saw what appeared to be king chess piece at its centre. What was off about the piece was that there was a source of green light in the crown.

"Devinius. I was wondering when you'd come. I came here as soon as I got your message," Yang could hear. At first the voice sounded familiar, it wasn't until the next words out of the woman's mouth that the realization struck her.

"I promised my husband I'd let this all go. Why did you ask me here?"

Yang became weak and nauseous as she saw her adopted mother's trademark cloak pass by her. As the woman removed her hood, Yang had a rush of memories of the last time she saw her mother.

"I needed your help. I needed what only you could provide," the old man said. Yang watched as her mother looked down and sank deep into thought.

"I'm afraid to tell you that I cannot give it to you, Devin. Someone else has it."

Devinius looked at her with shock all over his face, "What? Who? Who the Hell did you give it to?"

Laghairt nudged his grandfather, "What are you two talking about?" but his grandfather hushed him. Devinius grew tired of waiting for Summer to answer and grabbed her hand.

"By the Gods, Summer, who did you give the Relic of Destruction to?!"

"The only one I know will defend it like I have."

Devinius turned to the sound of screaming and blasts of fire in the village below. Summer threw her hood over her head, "That cannot be good," she muttered.

The old man glared at her, "Get back to your home and keep whoever it is you gave that relic to—Summer!" he was taken off guard by her sudden rush down the hill and into the battle below.

Yang watched as he turned to his grandson and handed him the sword that she recognized as Sapphire, the sword Laghairt used at the tournament.

"Laghairt. Promise me you will take this and that item over there, then you will find run. You will run and you will not look back. Get to the temple of the Sun in Vaccuo. I have friends there who can keep you safe."

Laghairt refused to budge and his grandfather grabbed his arm and pushed him toward the pedestal, "Damn it boy! Go before it's too late!" and when he didn't move he shouted, "I said run!"

Before Laghairt could turn around he saw a spear jab straight through his grandfather's stomach, the black-veined spear began to infect him with Grimm Blight.

"Devinius, I couldn't help but notice you seemed preoccupied. I'd have thought the legendary Protector would be present as his people are exterminated. Now what could have you up here in this little place?" said a woman with white hair. Her black robed dress seemed to glide over the ground as she walked beside him.

"Rot in Hell, Salem," Devinius replied.

Yang watched as this woman extracted the spear from Devinius' stomach and turned her attention to Laghairt, who was grabbing the chess piece on the pedestal. She prepared to strike him with the spear when Summer materialized and cleaved her arm off. This enraged Salem and she attacked Summer with the Grimm arm that grew in its place.

"You are a very infuriating woman," Salem stated.

"I have something to fight for!"

"So do I," Salem retorted and then jabbed at Summer, who broke from her grasp and evaded. Drawing her axes, Summer tried in vain to connect a hit on Salem. It took several moments before Salem took an opening and threw Summer out through one of the archways. This was when Devinius took his opportunity, despite his wound, to pull Salem out from the shrine.

Yang heard a loud crash and then a blood-curling roar as half the shrine was demolished by a dragon collapsing over it.

Laghairt stood there in fear as he watched Salem walk back over, her eyes glowing red as she stared him down.

"Give me the relic, boy!" said the Grimm Queen as she outstretched her hand.

Laghairt looked over at the mangled body of the dragon, then back at Salem. Yang watched as something odd happening to Laghairt when the sun began to rise over the treeline. Salem made to attack, but Laghairt yelled and his body began to glow, going from a reddish hue to orange and then slowly working to blue. He released the energy straight at Salem.

When the blue flames died away, Salem was standing there, her hands outstretched defensively and a thin barrier shielding her from the blast of searing plasma that had just reduced everything around them to ash.

Behind her several warriors of Laghairt's people come up, but they made no motion to attack her. They were conspirators with her; turncoats.

"Why's this one not dead? Toying with him, ma'am? His aura's drained, lemme at him!" said the lead one.

Before he took another step, they watched as the sun grew noticeably darker; so much so that they could almost make out the sunspots. Laghairt's aura began to regenerate before their very eyes. Worst yet, his newly unlocked semblance was cycling faster than before and was becoming more intense.

"What the fuck? Is that kid about to let out another blast like that?"

Laghairt didn't. He simply backed off and as the sun began to shine again disappeared from view.

Yang watched as the men scattered after him, but he was gone. She saw the rage in Salem's eyes, but the scene morphed away as she was brought to an open field. There she watched as a dragon crashed to the ground, growling as it kicked and mashed the trees. It blew fire at them as it screamed.

As the creature's tantrum calmed to solemn whimpers, she watched as Laghairt's distressed form morphed from the beast. His cries echoed through the trees as they began to catch fire. Yang's vision went black.

"Holy shit."

* * *

Author's Note

* * *

So, what I suspect most readers already guessed about Laghairt is indeed true; he's a dragon. So, with that revelation out; I'll offer everyone a bit of insight into his creation.

Laghairt is a noun from Irish/Gaelic which means "lizard" or "reptile" depending on region, and Sol is the name of the Norse goddess of the Sun, as well as the astronomical given-name of the Sun in her honor as the Norse (Vikings specifically) were paramount in the formation of modern astronomy, specifically navigation which is why it is mostly celestial bodies used for navigation or time of day that are named after their myths; Polaris (North Star), Sol (the Sun) and Luna (the Moon).

I'm currently working hard on chapter three, so fingers crossed that it'll be out within a week or two.


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